With a perfect five-for-five outing, third-grader Vikram Oberai has won the 2016 Lozano Spring Scholastic, held at the Rudy Lozano Branch of the Chicago Public Library on May 7.
The free non-rated event honored chess moms -- and mothers everywhere -- as players crafted Mothers Day cards between rounds.
Andrey Novikov, Vikram's final round victim, took second place among Grades 2-3 competitors while Virkam's brother, Aditya, took third place. Both Andrey and Aditya compiled 4.0's.
Daniel Roman -- who also fell to Vikram in the fourth round -- had the highest score among Grades 4-5 players.
Although no stranger to winning trophies, Daniel said it was the first time winning a 1st Place trophy!
Nathan Caropreso took second place among Grade 4-5'ers while Anthony Luna nabbed third place -- on tiebreaks. All three had 4.0/5 results.
Daniel defeated Nathan in the third round.
Cristian Luna had the best result of Grades 6-8 competitors with 4.0. Izella Ortiz and Elizabeth Codamon came in second and third place respectively on tiebreaks, both with 3.0 scores.
Cristian upended Elizabeth in the final round.
Among K-1 competitors, Yuvraj Chennareddy and Isabella Patel-Garcia both posted 3.0's with Yuvraj earning first place on the higher tiebreak. Yuvraj's sister, Siri, was a point back to take third place among K-1 entrants.
Yuvraj impressed all with three straight victories against much older competitors (3rd grade, 8th grade, 5th grade) before losing to the Grades 6-8 Champion and the Grades 4-5 Champion in the final two rounds.
In the Open Section, Julio Lara won his first four matches and drew his fifth, tallying 4.5 for clear first.
John Tellis and Ricky Roman tied for second-and-third places with 3.5 tallies with Tellis posting the slightly higher tiebreak.
Leonardo Rodriguez had the highest score among high schoolers (not previously mentioned).
The event was organized by Lozano Branch Manager Hector Hernandez and was supported by the Chicago Public Library program funding -- and area merchants who generously provided gift certificates for the Open Section including Taquería Sabor y Sazón, 2018 S. Blue Island Ave.
Mr. Hernandez also coordinates the Knight Moves Chess Club which meets at the Lozano Branch on Thursday evenings.
ICA Board member Michael Lenox -- and his wife Lia -- assisted as tournament directors.
Additional trophies were distributed to Grade Champions -- for those not receiving one of the above awards:
Kindergarten - Gabriel Luna (2.0)
1st Grade - Alexander Ivascu (2.0)
2nd Grade - Jacob Plotnick (2.0) -- Azamat Rainzhanov and Lily Meegoda achieved the same score
3rd Grade - George Ivascu (3.0) -- Anisha Oberai achieved the same score
4th Grade - Terell Franklin (2.0)
5th Grade - Stephania Patel-Garcia (3.0)
6th Grade - Fernando Alvarez (3.0)
7th Grade - Gabrielle Cisneros (3.0)
8th Grade - Damien Urquilla (1.5)